Rex Ryan has the Jets on a tightened schedule with the short week ahead.
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With just four days separating the Jets’ season opener from their Week 2 game, everything is accelerated for a team looking to build off a last-gasp win on Sunday and further develop their rookie quarterback.
The Jets and Patriots face the first shortened week of the NFL regular season, turning around immediately after Sunday and beginning preparations for the Patriots. Typically a Monday is a rehabilitation and film study day for most teams in the NFL, with Tuesday representing a league-wide day off.
But in a week where only three full days separate the gap between games, things are sped up. There is also less of an emphasis on actual practice as there is on implementing the game plan quickly.
“We’ll have walkthroughs every day and then we will have a little practice. Ours is about timing and things. We’ll have a little bit more than that, but not much,” Jets head coach Rex Ryan said on Tuesday in a conference call with the Patriots media. “You just got through playing a game, and it’s about keeping your players fresh. Obviously they have to mentally be focused. It’s a new opponent, so I think that’s the big thing. So, we’re very similar.”
Ryan said the preparation for this game for the players, due to the shortened week, began in training camp “whether the players knew it or not.” The length of the week really hasn’t changed according to the players as the team wants to keep them relatively fresh and on the same schedule.
The team likely wouldn’t begin on film study for an opponent as a team until Wednesday on a typical week, something they already begin to integrate on Monday of this week.
“When we came in, we went right to the Patriots. From last week? We only watched the takeaways from that game, but the attentions was right on the Patriots,” linebacker Demario Davis said. “But they keep the schedule pretty consistent.”
As for the quickened pace to the week, Davis praised the coaching staff for keeping everything relatively on the same schedule and not cramming too much into the day. But as Davis got dressed and hurried off to grab a meal before positional meetings, he looked up at the clock midway through the afternoon.
“I’d probably getting a massage right now most weeks,” Davis said.
He then grabbed his playbook and ran off to the team cafeteria. No time for a massage now.
Jets notes …
»Mark Sanchez was at practice on Tuesday and throwing, but only with his left arm. Reports have indicated that Sanchez will fly to visit with Dr. James Andrews this week, a renowned orthopedic surgeon, to have his right shoulder further evaluated.
»While he has yet to practice the last several weeks, outside linebacker/defensive end Quinton Coples rode the exercise bicycle Tuesday. Sources tell Metro that he won’t play this Thursday against the Patriots.
“He’s been attacking his rehab,” Ryan said. “He wants to get out there in the worst way.”
»Tight end Jeff Cumberland, who took a nasty hit on Sunday, was back on the field on Tuesday and looks ready to play Thursday against the Patriots. He said he felt fine after practice.
»Ryan said that wide receiver Jeremy Kerley had suffered a concussion after taking a hit on Sunday. But the timeline of the events is interesting as Kerley was cleared on the sidelines after the hit and was cleared again after the game as well. But on Monday at the team’s facility, Ryan said he was examined again and “determined that it was a concussion he has so he did not practice today.”
»Given Kerley’s injury, wide receiver Ben Obomanu was signed on Tuesday and released outside linebacker Scott Salomon. Obomanu was solid in preseason but was a late cut when the Jets trimmed down to 53 players on their roster.
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
